The story of the decorated servicewoman, famed for her daring exploits alongside the French resistance, is set to become major new movie

She helped an estimated 1,000 allied airmen to escape from occupied Europe and once killed a German sentry with a single karate blow to the neck.

Now the extraordinary story of Nancy Wake, who died last week aged 98, is set to be turned into a feature film by Bruce Beresford, the veteran Australian director who made Driving Miss Daisy.

Wake, born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, became the allies’ most decorated servicewoman for her daring exploits alongside the French resistance. By 1943 she was top of the Gestapo’s most wanted list with a bounty of 5m francs on her head.

While many of the other heroines of the Special Operations Executive were caught and sent to concentration camps, Wake repeatedly gave her pursuers the slip. Tragically, Henri Fiocca, her French husband who shared her passion for champagne and caviar, was captured in 1943, tortured and executed by